Robocalls scandal raises concerns about privacy issues: Report
OTTAWA - A new research report commissioned by the federal privacy commissioner says the ongoing robocalls investigation highlights concerns over how political parties use private, personal information.
The long-awaited study details what it calls unmistakable trends that cause concern.
Canada's political parties are completely outside the privacy laws, yet they amass huge amounts of highly personal information about citizens, including how they vote, their age, religious and ethnic backgrounds and other details.
Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart commissioned the research report in 2009 amid worries that sophisticated American data-collection systems were being imported into Canadian politics.
The study lists a number of privacy issues that have come to light, including complaints from Jewish voters who received Rosh Hashanah cards from Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2007 and an Oshawa woman who received Conservative party literature after contacting her MP about telecommunications policy last year.
The report notes that the investigation into fraudulent, misleading phone calls in last spring's federal election sheds light on the internal practices of political parties and raises a number of privacy questions.
